Meeting
by sruoh
Summary: Brothers Alfred and Matthew meet for the first time accidentally after being separated, and in the process of their brotherly bonding, they try to get their parents back together again. FACE family.
1. so they meet

This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I thought it would make a good multi-chapter fic. This is FACE family. I have been working on this on and off for a couple of months due to laziness, but it's the longest thing I think I have ever written, I wonder how people write such long things!

Yes, but thank you for checking out my story! Feed back or comments would be very much appreciated, thanks so much! Please excuse any or all mistakes, for I tend to miss those a lot.

I do not own these characters, nor Hetalia!

* * *

Matthew was with his Father, Francis. Matthew was sixteen, and he was tall and lanky. He wore a too big of a red sweater with the Canadian flag sewn on the back. They were from Toronto, visiting New York for vacation. Francis looked with bright eyes at the assortment of goods at the modest shop. Matthew smiled shyly as people gave glances at the pair, one with a strong, heavy French accent, the other with a soft Canadian one.

Matthew told his father he will be looking at other parts, and Francis smiled and told him to enjoy himself. Matthew made his way into the part of the store where he knew he would enjoy. It was filled with maple flavoured sweets. He looked at the assortment of candy. He smiled and picked up a polar bear plushy with chocolates.

He squeezed its belly and placed it down, and when he turned his head up, he saw a boy around his age, with the same hair color, and same face features. Their eyes met and they both looked equally shocked. Matthew whispered under his breath

_He looks just like me._

* * *

Alfred sighed as he saw his father look on with great curiosity at the different types of tea. He rolled his eyes at him. And he told him we would walk around for a bit. Arthur gave him a dismissive wave and Alfred was off. He lazily dragged his feet around, and looked around the aisles, hoping to find a burger or a soda. He rubbed his belly and sighed. He was hungry.

He made his way around the store when his eyes landed on a boy around his age. He was almost as tall as him, and looked rather skinny. He stared at his back, eyes on the maple leaf. He was about to turn away, when the blond boy looked up. Their eyes were on each other, Alfred gasped, and he took a step back. He looked just like him. They both paused for a brief moment, and Alfred turned around. No matter the whole _weirdness _of it, he brushed it off as a coincidence and he started to walk off. He felt the eyes of the other boy on his back. He shuddered slightly, feeling a bit freaked out.

* * *

Matthew stood still as he stared at the other boy, he couldn't help but look at him, and when the boy turned around and walked off, he felt the need to run up to the taller looking boy and ask his name. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and waved it off as silliness, and turned back to look at the little treats.

* * *

Francis was looking at the assortment of tea now, slightly fingering the pretty material. He took a step back, accidently bumping into someone. He turned around and smiled apologetically.

"Deso-"He gasped when he saw a certain green eyed man with huge brows. He moaned and smacked his head,

"Mon dieu…"

* * *

Arthur was looking around the shop, when he felt someone bump into him; he turned around opening his mouth to apologize when he saw the face he never thought he would see again.

"Bloody hell…"

* * *

They both stood dumbfounded, how in the world did they meet again, once more?

"What in the world are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Canada?"

"I'm on a vacation with dear Matthew; shouldn't you be _anywhere _where we are not?"

Arthur smacked his head, and grumbled loudly. He ran his fingers through his hair before sighing and opening his green eyes.

"Let's just get the boys out of here before they see us-"

"Papa I-"

"Hey dad let's-"

Everyone turned their heads when there was a loud groan, a heavy sigh, and gasps.

"You again!"

Matthew went from his Papa's face, to the green eyed man's face, and finally to Alfred. Alfred did the same thing, and when he began to open his mouth, Arthur grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him along. Alfred opened his mouth in protest.

"Who is t-"

"Let's go."

Francis did the exact same thing, and began to pull Matthew out the door.

"Papa, who-"

"Not now mon cher."

Alfred struggled out of his father's hold, and struggled to catch up with Matthew and Francis who were already ahead. Arthur cried out in protest as Alfred began to run. Francis turned around, and began to pick up pace. Matthew stopped short, and ripped his hand from Francis. His father looked shocked as he began to run towards Alfred.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

They both gasped aloud, catching their breaths. They looked up and smiled, sticking out their hands. Both dads looked in despair when they both saw their sons talking. They walked the rest of the way, dreading the moment to tell the secret they were hiding for so long.

"The name is Matthew Williams Bonnefoy, son of Francis Bonnefoy; I'm from Canada. And you?"

Alfred smiled and responded with a handshake.

"Mine is Alfred F Kirkland, father is Arthur Kirkland, and I am from America."

They both were silent, not sure what else to say. Alfred rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, well then, we're in trouble hey?"

Matthew nodded and turned around to see his Papa coming towards him, but his face wasn't angry, just worried. He wouldn't say the same about Arthur though.

"Boys, you shouldn't be running around here, and anyway…" Arthur rings his hands and grabs both boys by their hands. "We'll talk about it back at the hotel, let's go." Matthew looks surprised, and stares at his father, who merely shrugged and followed behind, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Who are you? What are you d-"Matthew tries to speak, but Arthur hushes him and turns back to face forward.

"We need to explain, just, be silent lads, and we'll explain later on." Arthur hales a taxi, letting go of Alfred's hand. When the driver pulls up in the small yellow car, they all piled in, Francis being pushed into the front seat by Arthur's foot.

Matthew happened to be squished in the middle, his face getting squashed by Alfred's shoulder. "H-hey! Alfred you should really watch-"Alfred mumbles an apology and moves his body so Matthew had enough space to move around a bit. He smiles and nods. "Much better."

"So Dad, what's up with all of this-"He gestures at Francis and Matthew, "And why did you freak out and all." Arthur ignores him, and tells the person where they're going. After, Arthur gets comfortable and strikes up conversation with Matthew, who stutters through the whole thing.

"So how's school lad?" Matthew shrugs his shoulders and sighs.

"It's good I guess, been getting good grades, you know, stuff." Matthew awkwardly twists away and turns to look at his Papa. "Why are we going with this stranger?" Francis sighs and gives a glance at Arthur, who glanced back at him with a glare, and they both ended up throwing looks back at each other, tension growing in the air, causing Alfred to sigh and wave a hand in front if their faces.

"Okay, okay, stop having eye sex and just tell us what is happening." Alfred smirked when Arthur blushed and stuttered out a no, while Francis raised an eyebrow in judgement, before smiling.

"Well Arthur and I did do more than eye s-"Arthur scowled slightly, and smacked him across the face, the cab driver opening his mouth to scold them, but quickly shuts it, not wanting to deal with the wrath of the British man. Matthew slid down in his seat, blushing madly, and hiding his face behind his hands, looking over at the scruffy cab driver, whose name seemed to be Joe, and gave him an apologetic look, and he returned it with a sheepish smile, and a shoulder shrug.

Alfred grimaced slightly at that, and fell back with a thump, crossing his arms. "Too much information, I don't want to know about your guys' sex lives." Matthew moaned at that and covered his ears. Alfred rolled his eyes, and nudged him in the arm, already comfortable with the shy boy, who doesn't seem like his brother at all, the looks the only thing tying them together.

Arthur growled low and crossed his arms also, looking out of the window, and huffing lightly. "All of you are a pain in the arse. Really…" Francis smiled and turned back to the front, shaking his head lightly.

"I sometimes wonder why we broke off."

"Cause you're a git, that's why, now be quiet, and let me think."

The whole way was silent; Arthur was fuming to himself, thinking of ways to get this done, over with. Matthew tried to hide, hopefully being forgotten, and out of harm's way from his supposedly adoptive fathers. Alfred was tapping his finger idly on the window, looking at the view, and naturally perked up when he saw a man in a Captain America costume, smiling and tugging on Matthew's sleeve. Francis kept to himself, humming a familiar tune, and tapping his foot, looking at the city as it zoomed past, fast approaching their destination.

When they finally did reach the modest little hotel, they all piled out, Francis paying and tipping the driver, whispering a quick sorry, before getting gestured over by Arthur, who was already dragging the boys over to the entrance. Francis sighed and trailed behind, before catching up. Arthur tugged on Alfred, who was tense, and scowling back, while Matthew held loose, rather scared at the older man's demeanor, and overall way he held himself. He wondered why Papa ever loved him in the first place, and decided to adopt.

"Arthur, mon cher, aren't you being a bit… tense?" Francis piped up, when they were in the elevator; luckily no one else was in it. Arthur glared at him, and let go of the boy's sleeves, pretty sure they weren't going to try and run away again. He tapped his foot impatiently, crossing his arms doing so. Matthew couldn't help but giggle at the whole sigh of him, sort of like a pissed off house wife of some sorts. Arthur turned to give him a sharp look, and Matthew stopped laughing, holding his head down. Alfred laughed at Matthew, and he also got a glare from Arthur, but he gave a steady glare back, his blue eyes burning.

"Don't even test me Alfred…"

There was a slight ding, and the elevator doors pushed open, and they all stumbled out, literally, as Arthur grabbed them again, pushing Francis with his foot, (he likes kicking him) and they made it out. Arthur let go of Matthew, and dug the keys out if his back pocket, before leading everyone to the little place they rented out. Arthur stuck the key in, and with a grand gesture, threw the door open and hushed everyone inside. It was a small little place, two beds, a bathroom, and other necessities.

Francis grimaced and shook his head. "Is this how you've been treating our child mon cher? To this… Mess of a place?" Francis ducked when Arthur threw a pillow at him.

"Shut your trap frog, this isn't our child, it is MY child." Arthur huffed and went to go retrieve the thrown object, and return to his stance in front of the two beds. He lightly pushed the boys onto it, setting them down, and roughly pushed Francis next to him, causing the French man to chuckle.

"You've always been a bit…"

"Don't even try it."

Arthur shook his head, and crossed his arms over his chest, and addressed the two boys with a nod. "Now lad, you may be wondering why we seemed to have crossed paths, and why we seem to know each other, and why you both share a shocking resemblance." He paused a bit, thinking his words over carefully. "Well you see, you guys are brothers, Alfred being older by one year. We adopted you guys when you were wee little lads, and when Francis and I were still…"

"Together." Francis piped in.

"Yes right," Arthur rolls his eyes, a thing he never realizes he does, and continues on, watching the boy's reactions carefully. "Anyway, when we broke off, I took Alfred, and Francis took Matthew when you guys were around two years." Francis sighed sadly.

"You guys were heart broken, and it was so saddening, I didn't want to keep you guys apart, but…" Francis shook his head, and shrugged his shoulder, nudging Arthur lightly. "Thing happen, non?" Arthur only frowned, and continued on, waving a hand.

"We kept touch here and there, asking how our other sons are doing, and this and that, but we never really… Talked much, so this little incident, was never supposed to happen, and after today, we are all going to forget about this, and go our separate ways. Is that understood? The main reason we never told you about this is…" Arthur looked at Francis, who looked back at him, and Matthew cleared his throat, staring coldly at the two grown men.

"What? You guys were too scared to face the past is that it? I have been kept away from family for this many years! My own blood, how could you guys even?" He let out a frustrated growl, startling the 3 other people in the room at the usually quiet blonde's outburst. "You guys were too scared to face each other wasn't it? It was all fine and dandy, until this day happened, which I'm glad it did." He fumed and stood up, clutching his head in his hands. "I can't believe it!" Alfred patted his back awkwardly before adding his bit, before Arthur and Francis can recover from their shock.

"It's okay Mattie, maybe they were going to tell us eventually, but, this really is crazy." He grabbed onto Matthew's tight, tensed shoulders, and turned so that he faced him. Alfred grinned a wide smile, and pulled the smaller boy in his arms. "I have a younger brother! I'm an older sibling, this is just nuts! Like on those movies and TVs." Matthew was a bit surprised by the hug, but relaxed and rested his head on his shoulder and begun to cry, the stress of everything finally crashing down, and he felt weird crying to his brother who he had just met, but everything seemed okay.

Francis looked on sadly at his son sobbing, feeling a strong pang of guilt attack his heart. He stared at Arthur, who was still struck, and was looking at them, void of emotion. "Mon cher…" Arthur snapped back and gave Francis a look that said "We're both idiots and what type of parents make their children cry" Arthur approached the two boys, one sniffling away tears, and the other holding him in silent comfort.

"Lads, we are so sorry that we hid this from you…" His voice is softer, much less sharp tongued and rough edged. "We didn't mean to really, we were caught up in our stupid little thing and-"Arthur felt as if he was going to break any moment, and he wondered why the bloody hell he was getting so emotional. Matthew pulled Arthur into a hug also, and Alfred grabbed onto Francis sleeve, and they stayed there for the longest of moments. In silence and thoughts, and Matthew recovered from his break down, and when he finally pulled away, he smiled softly and stared at all three people, one he has known his whole life, and the other two he has only met for a day, and opened his mouth to speak in a hushed, soft tone.

"Can I call you my family…?"

Arthur nodded hastily, and pulled the lad in, kissing his forehead, voice shaking.

"Yes, yes of course, I'm sorry, we're sorry…"

They shared one last hug, before Francis and Matthew left for their hotel, hearts warm and fulfilled, after sharing the briefest of family moments. Alfred flopped back on the bed, and cats a glance at his father. "Would be able to see them again?" Arthur smiles and nods, a bit out of character of him, but Alfred appreciated the gesture.

"Of course, anytime you want, we could go."

* * *

Even though Arthur and Francis no longer loved each other- (which the boys were very skeptical about, considering all the touchy feely moments, and those briefest of looks back in New York.) they often chatted, and let the boys talk with each other. Two months after they met, Alfred finally approached his father, tapping him on the shoulder when he was having his morning tea. "Remember when you said I can go visit Mattie anytime?" Arthur nodded slightly, having a good idea on what to expect. "Well, I was wondering if we can fly to go visit them, I want to see Mattie's hockey game, it'll make him really happy. Please Dad?"

Arthur sipped at his tea, fake thinking for a while, getting his son's excitement up. He quirked his lip up and nodded. "Why not?" Alfred grinned and jumped up, hugging his Dad, before bolting up to his room, calling back over his shoulder.

"It's next week, I'll go get packed!"

"But it's next week!"

"I want to be ready!"

Arthur smiled and sighed, realizing that maybe he was a little bit excited also, seeing Matthew

(And Francis, but he won't admit that ever)

He was about to take another sip of his now lukewarm cup of tea, when he was startled by Alfred, who peeked his head through the doorway and smiled sheepishly. "Oh and they don't know we're coming." He paused a bit, stepping forward to smile at his dad. "It's going to be a surprise!"

Arthur stared at him for a few moments, before smiling and nodding his head. He thought that this was a wonderful plan, and he can imagine the shock of both Matthew's and Francis's faces. He waved a hand at his son, shooing him off. "Now go on my boy, I'll get the tickets ready, and if you suppose, you could get packed."

Arthur quickly grabbed his laptop from his study, and began the search for tickets to Canada, and to family.

(A family he learned to miss)

* * *

Matthew fiddled with his phone, looking over at his Papa painting, before slinking back into his room, and flopping back on the bed, he dialed his brother's number, and held it up to his ear, smiling when he heard the familiar hello, along with some heavy breathing, and a sigh. Matthew frowned a bit, and questioned him, wondering why he sounded so breathless. "Hey Al, you okay? You sound… tired."

Alfred chuckled quickly, and leaned against his table, crossing his legs, throwing the clothes he was holding on the bed. He shook his head. "O-oh nothing, just cleaning up around the room and stuff, the usual." Matthew frowned and raised a brow.

"Cleaning? Are you sure you're okay Al, did you hit your head or…" Matthew listened to Alfred complain about cleaning his room, and cleaning in general enough to know it's now the usual thing he likes to do. Matthew rolled off his bed with a thump and, murmuring an ouch before rolling over to his computer, and booting it up with his big toe.

"Mattie what was that?"

"Answer my question first."

Matthew stood up and flopped onto the chair, and held the phone against his shoulder, and typed on the keys, writing his password, and waiting for the thing to load. Matthew heard a sigh from the other end, and a shuffle, before Alfred's voice floated through once more.

"I'm actually um… going somewhere, to visit family." Alfred lied, heart beating fast, and a goofy smile spread across his face. Matthew rolled his eyes in response.

"That sounds nice, my hockey team is in the finals, and I-"Alfred laughs and nods.

"I already know that silly, I wish you luck… Eh?"

Matthew rolled his eyes, and sighed. He had always found Alfred's sense of humour dry and rather stupid, but it had always made him laugh. This time though, he only managed a tiny laugh at Alfred's Canadian stereotype, and sighed.

"I wish you were here you know?" He shook his head, and rubbed his face. Awfully tired, he yawned. "I'm going to go take a nap Al, talk to you later?"

Alfred nodded, and didn't say anything, but he remembered Matthew couldn't see him, so he blurted out a yes, and hanged up, a smile playing at his lips.

Oh, this is going to be one heck of a surprise.

* * *

Thanks so much for reading!


	2. planning and shenanigans

**Ah hello! I know this update is beyond late, so please forgive me for that. Thank you for the reviews and such for this story, they mean a lot. Thank you for reading. There are small hints of Gerita and PruHun this chapter but nothing major.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.**

* * *

When Matthew had heard the dial tone, he sighed, and wondered why he had turned on his computer in the first place. He frowned slightly, staring at the picture he had set as his wallpaper, a picture of Alfred and Arthur, smiling happily as they stood in front of the peach arch. He smiled fondly, and then shut it off.

He lazily pushed the chair back, and flopped back on the bed, arms hanging loosely next to him, he stared up at the ceiling, looking at the pictures of Hockey players he posted up there long ago, and his eyes turned over to the right, grinning at the photos he took while they were still in New York. He loved posting good memories on his walls, so he could stare at them while in bed.

He looked at the one he took right before they left back to Canada. It was one with them in the airport, Arthur and Francis standing behind Matthew and Alfred, who were holding onto the younger boys shoulder, and Alfred had stuck his fingers behind Matthew's head. They were all grinning. And the person who they had asked to take the picture told them that they were adorable, and Matthew had been the only one to blush.

He grinned at the memory, and he closed his eyes, his whole body relaxed, and he thought of everything that has happened, and he nearly screamed. His life has changed so much, he has an older brother, he has another Father, and he couldn't take the amazingness of it.

He curled up and dreamed about how he scored the winning goal in a hockey game, Alfred, Dad, and Papa, congratulating him. He smiled happily in his sleep, embracing the feeling.

By the time he woke up, it was already lunch time, and Francis called him down. He made a mental note to call Alfred after dinner, making sure he ate, or that his house hadn't burned down.

(He had heard horrific stories from both Alfred and Francis.)

* * *

Alfred had finished up with packing, bringing the clothes that would prepare him for Canada, considering the fact though, that Matthew had told him it wasn't really that cold, still packed big sweaters, long pants, and hats and mittens, not trusting him at all. Matthew was probably used to it, and no way was he taking Matt's word for it.

He managed to pack as much American stuff as possible, shirts, sweaters, hats, he was going all out, imagining the shock, and anger on his brother's face, even though it would be very, very unlikely he'd get mad. He'd probably just laugh it off, and smile at him.

He rolled his eyes at his brother's overall niceness, and he just chooses to close his suit case, packing just enough for a week, and right after he closes it, he hears his cellphone ring, the tune of Star Spangled Banner playing.

He picks it up, and hears the familiar voice of his friend Gilbert float through, his voice unnaturally loud, as he exclaimed through the phone. Alfred grimaced, and held the phone a couple of centimetres away from his face.

"Hey Alfred, want to go to the movies next week? I hear the new Avengers came out, and I know you'll love it. How about it? It'll be awesome, just like me!" Gilbert laughed, and Alfred laughed too, his friend was a great person overall, though his random exclamations of "Awesome!" scared him slightly, considering he did it at the most inappropriate of times.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh man, I would love to go Gil, I really would, but I'm going to be busy that week." He heard a slight scoff over the other end, and he frowned slightly, questioning his best friend. "What?"

Gilbert had laughed right after Alfred had said that, and he yelled into the phone. "_What?!_ How do _you _have any plans? All you do is lay around eating burgers and play video games and stuff. I spent enough weekends at your house to know what you do."

Alfred frowned and waved it off, and he tried to reassure his overly excitable friend. "Well, I'm visiting family and…"

"In England?"

Alfred shook his head, and dejected it as if it were the silliest thing ever. "Hell no, in Canada of course."

"Canada? Pfft, why Canada? Isn't it just all cold and like igloos and moose and like, cold. Oh, and pancakes and maple syrup, I love pancakes and maple syrup."

Alfred had rolled his eyes at that, and scolded his friend. "It actually isn't _that_ cold, and they don't live in igloos and stuff." Gilbert had laughed loudly, choking back tears, he had given no chance for Alfred to speak out, as he spoke into the phone he was holding against his ear and shoulder.

"Oh my god, you, you are, you are actually saying that, weren't you, two months ago, saying that all Canada was, was America's hat, a very cold, wasteland, of a hat. What's gotten in to you?!" Gilbert burst into another bout of laughing, causing Alfred to stutter.

"S-Shut up! My brother lives in that so called wasteland!" Alfred quickly shut his mouth tightly, wondering why he had said that and he heard Gilbert shush down, and he questions Alfred, voice low.

"I didn't know you had a brother… "

Alfred sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, neither did I. I found out two months ago and that he's my younger brother and stuff. My dad had actually had like a lover or something, named Francis, and they were together, they adopted us I guess. They broke it off, and he took Matthew, and Dad took me."

He was a little worried by the silence Gilbert was giving off, and he just heard a laugh. "Y-You're adopted?! Oh my god, that's hilarious. And a Canadian brother? Does he say eh? Play Hockey? Oh, does he have any pancakes to spare?"

Alfred sighed, and shook his head, he should've known Gilbert would react in a way, and he merely shrugged his shoulder. "Yeah, pretty much. That's why I can't come to go see the Avengers. I'm going up to Toronto to go visit my Brother. He's having a hockey game, an important one at that, and we're going to surprise him and everything."

Gilbert nodded mutely and sighed, calming down a bit, he smiled. "Well lucky you! You're now in the older brother club, welcome, would you like some cake? Oh yeah, what was your bro's name again? How old is he?" Alfred rolled his eyes.

"No, I would like some burgers, and his name is Matthew, Matthew Bonnefoy, and um, he's 16, a year younger than me." Gilbert rolled his eyes at that.

"Well, I know he's a year younger than you dumb ass."

Alfred growled low, and Gilbert just laughed. "Yeah, whatever, I'm going to go mess with Ludwig and his boyfriend now. See ya later!" Alfred frowned, and hung up, still hearing his friends cackling ringing in his ears.

He flopped back on his bed, and closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing, he smiled, his heart fluttering at the fact he'll be able to see his family again. He frowned when his phone rang again. It was from Gilbert, who groaned loudly in pain into the phone, Alfred laughed.

"Hello?"

"Can I come over to your house, little bro kicked me out… Fucking hell who knew he could punch so damn hard…" Alfred laughed, and nodded.

"Why not, I'll ask dad if you can stay for dinner too."

Gilbert nodded and hung up, still nursing his cheek while he glares at his younger brother, whose hand was wrapped protectively around the Italian, oblivious to the looks and demeanor each brother gave off.

"Douchebag…" He muttered to his brother, who merely glared back, blue eyes hard.

* * *

When Gilbert had finally reached the home of Alfred Kirkland, he had not expected the blonde to roughly grab him around the shoulders, and pull him in, gasping, he glared as he was dragged upstairs quickly, tripping over his own legs and Alfred's.

"What the hell Al!"

"I need your help, Gilbert, I'll be missing a couple days of school and I need you to take notes and like grab my homework and crap." Gilbert pushed away from his hold, and growled.

"Why the hell did you need to attack me and drag me upstairs then?"

Alfred had chuckled sheepishly, hand going to scratch his neck as he shrugged, "I don't know, kind of forgot to tell Dad that you were coming over." His eyes travelled down to Gilbert's shoes and frowned. "You're going to have to take those off. Dad doesn't like shoes around the house, you know that." Gilbert grumbled and went back down stairs, Alfred hearing insults being thrown at him, at a volume that surely his dad could be able to hear.

He rolled his eyes when Gilbert's feet could be heard trampling back upstairs. He winced slightly when Gilbert launched onto the bed, landing with a large bump that shook the floor slightly, lying down he grinned lazily. "I get dibs on the bed. You're going to have to sit on the floor buddy."

Alfred had frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "But it's my bed bro." Gilbert merely shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, causing Alfred to huff loudly. "What? Want me to sit on you instead? How about them apples." Gilbert's eyes snapped open, scrambling up, in his haste, he had fallen off the bed, landing on his head, his feet still on the bed, he stared at Alfred upside down, reddish eyes glaring, and Alfred was laughing at him, his hands clutching his stomach.

"Shut up! I wouldn't want your fat ass sitting on me. No one would actually."

Alfred frowned, and poked his friend with his socked foot, blue eyes glaring, he snorted in response. "I have more muscle than you, and you know it, now shut up, unless you want to get kicked out of _my _house."

Gilbert sighed, and righted himself so he was sitting on the floor, hand lazily draped on the bed, his eyes looked around the room, and admiring the fact Alfred was the most patriotic American he had met. His eyes went from the American flags to the Captain America posters and figurines, to the comic books that were scattered across the room.

He had frowned slightly at the dirty clothes here and there, and his nose wrinkled at the empty Big Mac boxes and McDonald bags. He looked up at Alfred, who moved himself to the edge of the bed, and gestured at his room.

"This is nasty as hell. Look at the empty food boxes and," he sniffed the air, his nose wrinkling, "is that _rotten_ Big Macs I smell?"

Alfred had scoffed, bending down to punch Gilbert in the arm, who winced and muttered things in German. "I have better taste than that dude; it's probably just my dirty clothes or something from football or other crap." Gilbert frowned still, clasping his hands over his nose; his eyes flickered to Alfred, who grinned lazily.

"Still nasty as hell bro, you need to clean up in here man." Gilbert's eyes move to the black suitcase, Alfred noticed, and he stretched his legs, shrugging his shoulders.

"I decided to pack early."

Gilbert eyed it, and he looked back up to Alfred, who was rubbing at his eye. "When are you guys leaving?"

"In a couple of days or a week, not sure, Dad is still buying the tickets. Matt's game is coming up soon though. "

Gilbert had laughed at that, slapping his knee, Alfred merely rolled his eyes, and he kicked at Gilbert, who was still cracking up, and Alfred just frowned because how was it even funny? He flopped back on the bed while his friend was trying to calm himself.

"What did you bring? Stuff printed with the American flag all over it? Pfft…" Alfred eyes widened, and he shook his head, hands coming to his forehead, Gilbert looked at him, and started laughing more, rolling around, he kicked his feet, and Alfred groaned.

"Shut up, geez, you're really starting to piss me off man, do you want me to kick you out of my house?"

Gilbert managed to calm himself down, wiping tears from his eyes, he sat himself back up, and he studied Alfred for a moment, who was just laying there, eyes closed.

"What's for dinner?"

Alfred rolled his eyes, and sat up, yawning. "I don't know, probably take out, unless you want to eat Dad's cooking, I could make a special r-"

Gilbert threw whatever was at reach at his face, which happened to be a t-shirt with the Canadian flag on it, he chuckled. "What the hell is that doing in the most patriotic room in the state?" Alfred grabbed it from his face, and held it out, a sense of happiness hit him, and he smiled.

"It's from my brother, he gave it to me right before he left, it's actually his shirt, not sure if it fits me though, he is a bit shorter and… thinner than me." He placed it carefully back on the bed, making sure to wash it later, he stood up, stretching. "Want to play some video games? I got that new one that you urged me to buy a while back."

Gilbert nodded, standing up also, he rested his elbow on Alfred's shoulder. "Yeah, and while we're at it, let's tell the old man that I'm over." Alfred grinned and smacked a hand on Gil's shoulder also. "Pretty sure he _heard _you already.

"Oh whatever, he knows that I'd crash here sometimes, let's go play on the Xbox."

* * *

Matthew jumped onto the couch, bouncing slightly; he grabbed the phone from the stand next to it, dialing the number he knew so well, he could already smell the roast chicken and potatoes his Papa was making. When he had heard the gruff voice of Arthur, he smiled.

"'Ello, who is it?" Arthur was tapping his finger idly on the table, hearing the background noise of his son and his friend shouting and screaming at their game console. He rolled his eyes a bit, but perked up a bit, stopping the tapping, when he heard a familiar voice float through.

"Oh hey Arthur, how're you?"

Arthur shrugged, "Nothing much lad, waiting for the food to come in." he jumped a little when he heard a loud crash, and a loud swear from both boys in the other room.

"S-sorry dad, that was the um…"

"Yeah old man your vase broke!"

Arthur sighed, muttering to himself, Matthew cocked his head to the side, listening intently. "What the heck was that?"

"Oh nothing lad, just your brother and his friend broke something, supposedly my vase."

Matthew chuckled, pulling his legs up, he studied the floor as he heard his Papa singing some French song he is fond of at the time, and he sighed. "May I talk to Alfred please?"

Arthur nodded, and stood up with a groan, he wasn't as young as he used to be, and he strolled over to where the boys were scrambling to pick up the pieces, Alfred managing to nick himself, swearing, he stuck said finger in his mouth.

Arthur chided them both, and handed the phone over to Alfred, who mumbled around his finger, holding it to his ear, he wiped his hands on his pant leg, and leaned back slightly, watching as Arthur brushed Gilbert away with a hand, and pick up the rest of the pieces with an annoyed look on his face, eyebrows furrowed.

"Hello?"

"Oh hey Al heard you broke something." He heard Alfred laugh nervously.

"You could say that, me and Gil were playing _Left 4 Dead _and this huge Zombie came out of nowhere and like started attacking us, and I kinda freaked out and Gil told me to shut up and I threw my controller at him and then it hit the vase and fell over and-"He was interrupted by Matthew's laughter, and he saw Arthur gave him a look.

"That is so like you Al, I would think the person who cried-"

"I don't _cry_."

"-over ghost stories would freak out over Zombies." Matthew laughed, and Francis popped his head in, mouthing _dinner will be ready in five minutes _before going back in, still singing that song.

"But this time it was different, it popped out of nowhere and totally ambushed us and-"

Matthew rolled his eyes at his brother, who rambled on and on about how he was the hero and how they don't get scared of anything. Gilbert found it amusing, as watched as Alfred chatted on. Arthur went off to clean up the mess the boys made.

Matthew piped in while Alfred was still talking, standing up while doing so with a slight grunt. "I'm going for dinner, call you before bed?"

Alfred nodded and mumbled out a yes, before hanging up. He glared at Gilbert, who was grinning happily, his hands idly pressing buttons on the controller he was holding. "What is it Gil?"

"Oh nothing." He sang whistling a bit, Alfred glared, kicking him a bit.

"What is it bro, or you're not getting any of that Chinese Takeout dad bought."

Gilbert shrugged his shoulders, throwing the controller to the side, he smiled. "I don't know, it's just… you're different when you talk to your brother, like, softer."

"Softer?"

Gilbert shrugged his shoulders and stood up, his stomach growling as he did so, and he stretched, eyeing Alfred carefully. "I don't know, it's just something I notice." He rubbed his stomach thoughtfully, and he heard the sound of the doorbell ringing, he perked up. "Food's here, let's go, I'm starved."

Alfred sighed and pulled himself up, still pondering what Gilbert said.

_Softer eh?_

He berated himself later, while stuffing some spicy chicken thing in his mouth, for letting the little "eh" slip into his mind. He wonders if it's because Matthew is rubbing off on him. He scowled and shoveled more food into his mouth, Arthur scolding him for it, waving a fork carelessly. Gilbert was just focused on tending to his hunger, shoveling just as much food as Alfred was.

Arthur didn't even bother with him.

* * *

When Matthew had finished eating, and excused himself from the table, clearing his plate and washing up, he got ready for bed. This usually happened while listening to some good old swing music, which included singing and shaking of the hips, which could usually be heard by Francis, who laughed silently to himself.

When he was finished, he flopped onto the bed, grabbing his phone from his bedside. He yawned, eyes watering, and he dialed the number he knew so well, musing that if he called the number enough, his fingers would've worn down the numbers he used.

Alfred picked up almost right away, a laugh, pretty close to a cackle, could be heard in the background. "Hey Mattie!" Alfred kicked Gilbert away, who was beginning to get too close for comfort, attempting to listen in on the conversation.

"Ah hey Alfred, I heard someone laughing in your room, who's there?"

Gilbert laughed some more, and Alfred swatted him away, glaring at his friend. "Oh, don't worry Matt, it's just Gil, he's my _stupid _friend who thinks he's the best person to have ever existed ever."

Gilbert crossed his arms over his chest, snorting and decided to just lie on the floor while Alfred chatted on the phone, eyes closing.

"Is that so? Sounds more like you."

"Oh shut up, just so you know, America will always be better than Canada."

Matthew huffed slightly, glaring, a smirk creeping up on his face. "Oh really? Canada has both universal healthcare, amazing human rights, such as the fact that we were the fourth country in the whole entire world to allow gay marriage. Canada is also the second largest country in the world. Suck that!"

Alfred rolled his eyes, and clucked his tongue, shaking his head slowly. "Mattie, Mattie, Mattie… I would retort with amazing facts on why America is a badass country of complete _awesome _but it would take days for me to cover it all."

Matthew sighed, knowing his brother would lead the conversation late into the night, decided to let it go, and just move on with things. "Whatever, finish cleaning your room yet?"

Alfred laughed, chuckling. "Ha-ha, not yet, I got distracted when Gilbert came over, and then we played some video games. So, I didn't really get to finish it."

Matthew merely nodded, and a sort of silence fell over them, that is, until Gilbert screamed out 'boobs'. Earning a pillow in the face from Alfred, hissing under his breath, Matthew though, laughed, asking in a questioning tone.

"What the hell?"

Alfred grumbled under his breath, eyes glaring at the German. "Gil has the tendencies to scream like an idiot at the most inappropriate of times."

Matthew nodded, yawning a bit. "Hm, oh, that's nice. I'm going to bed soon, so I'm going to have to hang up."

"Alright then, well, good night bro."

"Night Al."

Matthew hung up at the same time Alfred did, and he slowly sunk into his bed, eyes heavy, he crawled under his covers, curling up, he fell asleep almost right away, dreaming of polar bears and hockey sticks.

Alfred, on the other hand, frowned at Gilbert, and pushed him off his bed when he tried to crawl up, cursing at him. "Shouldn't you be home right now?" Gilbert nodded, and Alfred sighed. "Then why aren't you going already, I'm pretty sure you'll be welcomed back at your home."

Gilbert grumbled and stood up, stretching a bit while doing so, he sighed. "Well fine then, I'll be going. I won't be coming over tomorrow since I volunteered to help Liz teach the kids Baseball." Gilbert's lip went up slightly on one side, and Alfred laughed.

"You have the hot's for Elizaveta?" Gilbert stuttered out a no, and bumped Alfred on the head, looking away.

"I'll be going now, thanks for dinner and all."

Alfred smiled that grin of his, and shrugged his shoulders. "No problem dude, now get out."

Gilbert smiled, nodding. "No problem." He slowly made his way out, as if to further piss off Alfred. Alfred threw a glare at him, this only caused him to laugh, and trample his way back down again. He could hear laughing from outside, laughing a bit himself.

Sure Gilbert was annoying as hell when he wanted to be, easily pissing him off, but he was a great friend who he can rely on any day. He slowly got up himself, shaking his legs a bit, and got ready for bed, brushing his teeth and changing into his Captain America boxers and T-shirt.

(He wasn't too old for them; they made it in his size, even though they _were_ a little tight.)

He flopped back on his bed, grabbing his laptop from under it; he switched it on, deciding it would be a good time to check his messages before he went to sleep. He quickly typed in his password, and waited for it load. He smiled at his wallpaper. It was a picture of Francis and Matthew in front of the CN Tower, smiling brightly. When he was first sent the picture, he was expecting to see snow and more snow, which made Matthew laugh the next time Alfred had called him.

He quickly checked his messages; most of them were from Gilbert, sending him songs, or just random pictures of things that amused him at the time. He got one from Kiku telling him about the newest game that was released in Japan, where he was staying for the last week.

He yawned, shutting off his laptop, he curled up under the covers, closing his eyes, and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**I know there isn't much plot progression as of now, but hopefully I can move things along. This was a monster of a chapter for my standards cause I don't usually hit the 4000's while writing, so I guess that's good? Though the length of chapters might slow down updates, plus school is coming up soon so they may happen less and less.**

**Gilbert made his appearance. I'm not sure what his role will play in the story. He'll probably just stay Alfred's best friend, though. He'll be mentioned hopefully in later chapters, but I'm not thinking of making him appear much, I just like him and I thought he would be good friends with Alfred. Not sure if I'll be adding anybody else, but I'm hoping on concluding this thing within 5 or 4 good length chapters. I want to build up Alfred and Matthew's relationship as brothers, and Francis's and Arthur's relationship after their break up. Not sure whether to end it with FrUk or not.**

**Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review.**


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